For most of us, the Grandstand stage at the Calgary Stampede is a place of entertainment, someplace we might go once or twice a year for a few hours of fun.

Angela Benson, though, sees something else, something more. For Benson, the artistic director of the Young Canadians, that stage is a transformative place where children achieve their dreams through months of hard work and sacrifice.

So when she sees those pictures and video of the now-flooded infield, a sea of muddy brown water, it affects her on a different level than the rest of us. You wouldn’t know it, though, from the positive energy she radiates in a conversation about the state of what will become the Young Canadians’ home during the 10 nights of Stampede.

“The thing is, the show will always go on,” Benson says, optimism shooting over the phone line like the fireworks that light up the sky at the end of each Grandstand Show. “The Young Canadians are actually in such good shape for the show this year.”

More than 120 youth, ages six to 22, have been hard at work on this year’s production for months. The production, Century 2, features the Young Canadians and members of the local arts community, such as Alberta Ballet and Calgary Opera.

The Young Canadians were scheduled to take to the Grandstand stage for rehearsals starting Tuesday, but for now, “things are on hold,” Benson says. Some members of the group have been evacuated from their family homes, she says, and the rest of the group has been quick to rally around.

“We take care of each other. . . . There’s been a lot of alumni from the past 45 years who have been e-mailing in, offering help,” she says, adding that’s everything from food to practise space in a hotel.

“It’s pretty amazing. We are really blessed and lucky to live in a city like this.”

In May and June, the group holds rehearsals at a hockey arena off-site because they need a large space to accommodate the large, elaborate stage props. On Thursday, though, they were doing some work on the Grandstand Show, including practicing some of the aerial moves. “They had to push us off the stage,” Benson says with a laugh.

There’s a tunnel that goes under the infield and branches out into a warren of change rooms, meeting rooms and washrooms. It leads to a large area where the performers can ride risers that take them up on to the stage.

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the area last year and I was struck by the energy level of the performers, who practically vibrated before taking to the stage. One portion of the cinder block wall was covered in signatures of past members of the Young Canadians, scrawled reminders of past wishes for all the luck in the world for their young colleagues.

All that is now under water.

“Thanks goodness our costumes didn’t move to the basement — where our dressing rooms are — yet,” Benson says, managing to see the positive amid all that pooling water.

“When our production team and tech team and director of the show, as soon as we heard that the Stampede grounds were being evacuated, it was all hands on deck. Everyone came together as a team to make sure the stage was as safe as possible.

“But seeing some of that (flood) footage, I think that we are going to have to put in some elbow grease and scrub-a-dub-dub that stage to get it ready.”

Again, where most of us see only a mud-covered disaster, a daunting task that couldn’t possibly be completed in the two short weeks until the Stampede starts, Benson sees something more.

“The Calgary Stampede runs on volunteer spirit. That’s why I’m not nervous. I know that the city of Calgary is going pull together and the Stampede will go on.”

The born-and-raised Calgarian says the theme of this year’s show is particularly apt, seeing as “it’s really a celebration of the community of Calgary.”

“To be honest, my heart goes out to the entire city. It’s not just the (Stampede) grounds, it’s seeing how it affect people,” she says, before reiterating: “Nothing is going stop us. The show must go on. There’s nothing better than seeing the Young Canadians perform to bring the city of Calgary back together.”

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Even with Grandstand under water, Young Canadians vow show ‘will always go on’

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